Click to Reset
by sheabaybay12
Summary: If I'd known that the world was going to go to shit the day after move-in day, I would've chosen to stay home. If I'd been home, maybe it wouldn't have been this bad; maybe the situation would've turned out differently. But as it stands now, there isn't time to dwell on what-ifs and could-have-beens. There's not really much time for anything. Only running. Running and surviving.


If I'd known that the world was going to go to shit the day after move-in day, I would've chosen to just stay home. If I'd been home, maybe it wouldn't have been this bad; maybe the situation would've turned out differently. But as it stands now, there isn't time to dwell on what-ifs and could-have-beens. There's not really much time for anything-only running. Running and surviving.

Chapter 1:

If there's one thing I hate, it's unpacking. It's bad enough I have to take the time to fold everything up and force it all into the suitcase, but then having to take everything back out again and put them in their proper places is just plain tedious. Which is why, instead of unpacking my clothes, I set up my bed and laid back on it, content with sleeping for an hour or two. After all, I'd just gotten done driving over two and half hours from home all the way to campus. I was thoroughly exhausted.

On the other side of the room, Eric had already completely unpacked and stood there, admiring his handy work. He was always one to never leave things to the last minute, unlike me. "Can't believe your gonna keep the room cluttered with your junk just because you're too lazy to unpack," Eric commented, glancing over at me. I rolled my eyes and groaned as I prompt myself up with an elbow. "Well you weren't the one who had to drive four hours all the way here from the city." I grumbled. "It's not exactly an easy drive, 'specially with you in the car."

Eric feigned offense. "What are you trying to say, Dean?" he flushed. "I thought you liked having me around, bestest buddy!" He sported a grin and launched himself onto my bed, grappling his arms around my neck and shoulders.

"Get off, you idiot!" I growled, but I grinned as I struggled to escape his hold and throw him from the bed. Eric, ever the jokester, let out a comical cackle as he pushed his knee against the small of my back, pinning me to the bed, stomach-down.

"Not until you admit that you love me!" Eric declared. Below him, I groaned. "What, did you turn gay and I missed the memo?"

"Only for you, Deanie!" Eric laughed.

"Don't call me that, moron."

"No can do, _Deanie_!" We continued to wrestle on my bed, fighting to push the other off.

"If you two idiots are done relieving your sexual tension, I'd like to go to dinner now, if you don't mind." We both paused and looked up at the open door. A tall, petite girl with long brown hair stood in the doorway with her arms folded and an amused smirk played on her lips.

My own mouth curled up into a smile, as I shoved away from Eric and leapt off the bed to meet her. Immediately, I picked her up in my arms and twirled her around once before pulling her into a tight embrace. "Okay, okay, I missed you too, you big idiot," she laughed against my shoulder.

"Not as much as you missed me, right, Jo?" Eric chimed in from my bed. I couldn't see, but I just knew that Jo was rolling her eyes at him from over my shoulder. Some things never changed.

I retracted my arms from around Jo's torso and settled my hands against her own arms. She smiled warmly up at me until her eyes fell behind where I stood. "You haven't finished unpacking yet?" She frowned. I groaned in response. "Not you too. Why is everyone in such a hurry to unpack everything? It's not like any of it is going anywhere. I've still got time!"

"Procrastinator," Jo mumbled as she pushed away from my grip. I flashed her a smile, which she coyly returned, along with another eye roll. "Come on," she continued as she spun around and disappeared out the door. "We're all waiting on you two."

"Oh, I feel so honored!" Eric squealed as he jumped off the bed and followed me out of our dorm. Out in the hallway, it was buzzing with activity, which didn't surprise me. Move-in day was always hectic, whether you were a freshman, or senior. Honestly, the day would be a lot less crazy if there weren't so many high-maintenance parents in the way. I know, I know, it can be tough for up-and-coming freshman to be assimilated so quickly into college life, and it's hard for them to detach themselves from the safety blanket of their parents' presences. I was a freshman too so I know how it feels. But being a sophomore now, I now see move-in day as all other upperclassmen see it as; a nuisance.

I counted my stars lucky that my parents had simply helped to drop my stuff off in my room and then left as quickly as they came, rather than stick around to assist in unpacking my luggage and getting me settled like freshmen parents would. Granted, if they had done that, I might have been all unpacked by now, but I digress.

Once Eric and I managed to dodge our way past stacks of boxes, and inconveniently-placed suitcases and do-it-yourself shelves, we made it to the end of the hallway by the staircase, where Jo and the rest of our group were waiting. While we're on the subject, I might as well introduce them properly.

First, there's Kristen, Jo's roommate and best friend. Say what you want about Kristen, but she's a girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to say it. As loud and hard to handle as she may be, she's a leader if I ever saw one and a great partier. Next up is Kristen's boyfriend, Tristan. Complete coincidence that their names happen to rhyme, and believe me when I say that they have been the butt of a lot of our jokes since they first began going out last semester. Tristan is your average meathead party animal, and a key player on our school's basketball team to boot. His personality comes off as a little strong at first and he has little tolerance when it comes to anything he doesn't like (which I guess explains why he and Kristen get along so well; they complement one another) but he's actually smart, loyal and an all-around great guy once you get to know him.

Next is Jasmine, another one of Jo's really good friends. Unlike Kristen, she's really quiet and somewhat shy when you first meet her. It took a while for her to open up to the group and when Jo first introduced her, but since then, she's proven to actually be really fun to hang out with. Her roommate is Tessa, who is kind of in the middle when it comes to personality traits. She's not loud and crazy like Kristen, but she isn't quiet like Jasmine. She's actually kind of sassy when she steps out of her comfort zone and she's a hell of a drinker at parties.

Jonah is Tristan's roommate, and another member of the basketball team. He's a quirky guy who always likes to party, and somehow always knows where and when the next great party will be. He considers himself a ladies' man, and despite the fact that he claimed that he could easily get a girlfriend anytime he wanted, he chooses to be the self-proclaimed "White Boy Womanizer of campus".

Then there's Mike and his twin, Brad. Mike's brother just transferred this semester, so I don't really know him, but Mike has been a close friend since we met in bio class our first semester as freshmen. And speaking of bio, neither of us would have passed that class if it hadn't been for a certain tall, petite brunette that just so happened to be in the same class with us.

That's where I met Jo. At the time, I hadn't even known we'd lived on the same floor, much less the same building, but the moment I met her in that lecture hall, I knew I was in love. Yeah, cheesy I know, but believe me it wasn't easy to get where I was today with her. The first time I talked to her I hadn't even been able to speak properly without stuttering over my words. That never happens to me. Eric, whose been my best friend since sixth grade, can attest to that. Back in high school, I was the smooth-talking, chick-magnet heartthrob of Beacon High, but one look from this girl with long brown hair and dark green eyes, and I was a puddle at her feet. It was unheard of.

After my failed attempt at conversation Jo had hardly taken me seriously and dismissed me entirely. At that point, the professor at the head of the class called for attention and I was unable to get another word in edgewise. When we were dismissed at the end of class, she got up and left before I could blink and I was left feeling a little put out. That was when, Mike, who had coincidentally been sitting just behind me came to introduce himself. "Hey man," he said. "I saw everything. Tough luck, but that's how girls are sometimes. Don't let it get to ya." He patted a hand on my shoulder in an attempt at comfort and before I knew it, the two of us were walking out of class together, swapping rejection stories.

And while I'd gained a friendship that day, I hadn't given up on talking to that girl. If there's one thing Dean Archer is not, it's a quitter, and even if it took me all semester, I had made a promise with myself that I would work up the nerve to talk to that girl. A long story short-and while it had taken a little more than a semester and a lot of begging in the process-Jo was now my girlfriend, and I'd be damned if I said that I wasn't head over heels in love with her. I felt like the luckiest guy on earth.

"About time you guys got here!" Kristen called, even though we were only a few feet away from her. Like I said before-she was loud.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I was...unpacking."

"Liar."

"Liar."

"You're totally lying, Dean." I almost flinched at the bombardment of (completely true) accusations that flew my way, but I smirked good-heartedly. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed my college friends.

"Whatever, let's just get out of here before this place is crawling with freshmen." I said.

"Yeah! I'm fucking starving!" Eric exclaimed, pushing his way towards the stairway, the rest of us following behind. It was as if we'd never left for the summer.

Jo and I hung back behind the rest of the group and we trekked past the bustling clumps of people moving heavy objects into the dorms from their haphazardly parked cars to the dining hall. Jo hummed contently when I wrapped my arm gently around her shoulder and pulled her closer as we walked. "I missed you," I sighed into her hair.

"Idiot," she scoffed, even though she was smiling. "I saw you less than two weeks ago."

"It felt like forever."

"You big baby."

"I'm _you're_ big baby."

"Unfortunately." I paused for a moment.

"So, have you though about what I said?" Jo didn't reply at first. We reached the edge of the small, curved road, where the dining hall awaited on the other side.

"I don't know, Dean," she said, uncertain. I quickly looked down each way to make sure there were no cars before I led us across the road.

"It's just for the summer. And it'll be fun!" I said.

"But it's so far away, and I have work, and my parents...they'd never agree to it."

"Babe, you're parents love me!" I reasoned. "Your mom was practically begging me to propose to you as soon as I walked through your front door!"

"Shut up," Jo mumbled, her cheeks flushed red. I grinned and kissed her hair as we reached the other side of the road.

"Look, don't think of it as spending the summer with my whole extended family at our lake house; think of it as a romantic summer getaway shacking up with the sexiest guy you've ever laid eyes on."

"Ooh, I get to shack up with Channing Tatum?" Jo teased, smirking playfully.

"Hey! Celebrities don't count!" I argued. "That have a shit-ton of money to blow away on their appearance!"

"Even then, you're hardly the sexiest guy I've seen lately..."

"_Lately?"_ I exclaimed. "How many hot guys are you hanging around?"

"Well it _is _move-in day, and there _are _a lot of new faces..."

"Seriously?" I scowled. "You're going after freshmen now? What are you? A cougar?" Jo smiled coyly. "_Meow_." She replied, swatting her hand like a cat. I chuckled at her teasing and kissed her hair again as we quickly approached the entrance of the dining hall. The rest of the group had already disappeared inside.

"You still never answered my question." I prompted as I held the door open for her. She smiled at me as she walked in. "Let's just get through this semester first, okay, tiger?"

***Page Break***

Dinner went off without a hitch and afterwards, we found ourselves fooling around and chatting in Kristen and Jo's room, until Jo stubbornly kicked all the guys out. "You idiots are going to get us written up on our first day back." she scolded. "If you're going to be loud do it somewhere where we can't hear you!"

With a slam of the door that dwarfed any of the noise we had been making, we quickly retreated into Tristan and Jonah's room before we got blamed by the RA for the racket. Tristan and Jonah's dorm, officially dubbed by Eric as "The Man Cave," quickly became a room of activity, filled with loud, bellowing laughter, belching contests, would-you-rather scenarios, and talk of hardcore sexual experiences. Not to mention, nearly the moment we'd closed the door behind us, Jonah had broken out the vodka and handed out shots to all of us. Over the course of the next few hours that led well into the early morning, I'd become acquainted with Mike's nut-sack (not what you think; he accidentally tripped and tea-bagged my face on the way down), almost passed out from laughing so hard, and downed nearly a whole two bottle's worth of shots. I swear, I had no idea where Jonah was able to hide that much alcohol. It seemed like he had an unlimited supply of it. I should have stopped when I started seeing doubles, but I was so happy, so glad to be back with my buddies, that I couldn't stop myself.

"Dude, dude, dude!" I laughed hysterically, patting Mike on the shoulder. "Yerrrr...my _best _friend, like _ever!"_ Mike practically giggled at that and clasped a hand around my shoulder. "I feel ya man, I feel ya up here!" He pointed to his chest for emphasis.

"Heyyy! Dean, I thought I wuz yer best friend!" Eric cried from across the room. Or I think it was from across the room. My vision was spinning. "You are, man...all three 'o ya..." I groaned at him, a drunken grin plastered across my face.

"Jeez, if you can't hold your liquor, then don't drink, dumbass," I heard Tristan scoff. If I had been sober I probably would have been able to think up a clever comeback but as intoxicated as I was, I just grinned away like an idiot.

"Eyy, you know Dean's p'rents," Eric mumbled. "They're realllllly strict 'bout 'im drinkin', so the only time he can reallllly le' loose is 'ere!"

"...And you're no better." Tristan growled.

"Ah, lighten up, ya pussy!" Jonah snorted. "Ya talk about holdin' your liquor but last time I checked, you had the least outta all of us! Live a little, man!"

"Tch. Just don't expect me to clean you up when you puke all over yourselves," Tristan grumbled, but out of the corner of my blurring vision, I saw him smirk as he took another swig of the vodka bottle in his hand. Despite all his complaining, he missed having us around as much as the rest of us did.

"Hey, dude, Brad," I mumbled, suddenly zeroing in on the only sober member in the room. Mike's twin, Brad, hadn't taken a single shot, and just sat there on the floor, an expressionless look on his face. Or maybe there _was _an expression on his face and my plastered brain just couldn't make it out. "Why're ya alllll quiet? Don' ya wanna shot?" I offered him an empty shot glass like it was filled with vodka. I probably believed it too. Brad didn't answer, just held up a hand, declining my offer. I pouted.

"'e doesn't drink, man," Mike mumbled in my ear. I think he was trying to whisper it to me but he was saying it out loud regardless. "'E's borin'... Doesn't play sports, or anythin'. Borin' mutherfuckerrrrrr..." Absentmindedly, I felt a weight fall on my shoulder and glanced over to see Mike completely passed out with his head resting on top of me. Blankly, as if I didn't know what to do in my incapacitated state, I turned back to Brad. "'E's asleep..." I said softly. In the background of my fading hearing, Eric laughed loudly at a dumb joke Jonah probably made and Tristan, despite having loosened up a bit, hissed at them to keep it down.

In front of me, Brad closed his eyes and sighed heavily as he got to his feet. "I think it's time I take him back to our room." I don't think he was addressing anyone in particular, seeing as the majority of the people in the room were out-of-their-minds wasted. I barely registered the absence of the weight being lifted off my shoulder as Brad pulled his brother to his feet and threw his arm around his shoulder to drag him to the door. He muttered a respectful good night to no one in particular and disappeared out the door.

I hiccuped in response, not really understanding what exactly was going on, only that there were two less people in the room than there were a few moments ago and that I wanted to take another shot. I turned my head heavily to where Jonah the Drink Master sat cackling on his bed and motioned for another drink. I don't know if Jonah understood my gesture because I'd just made it up on the spot, but he must have figured out what I wanted because he grinned wide and stumbled off the bed towards me. "Looks like someone's ready for round two!" he exclaimed. If I had even half of my brain cells working at that time, I would have known that that was the twelfth time Jonah had said that since we began drinking. But as it was, I was too drunk to care about math at that moment.

***Page Break***

I woke up with the world's biggest headache. It felt like my skull had been used to repeatedly hammer down nails into a plank of wood. The thumping of my brain seemed to resonate throughout the room as I struggled to keep my eyes awake long enough to see where I was. Once I had accomplished that, I realized I was back in my own room, on my bed no less, which surprised me. The number of times I've made it back to my room after drinking that much can be counted on a single hand. Most of the time, I would wake up where I blacked out, or sometimes in someone else's bed. Once, I even woke up in a townie's backyard. That had been an interesting walk back to campus.

I must have blacked out in Tristan and Jonah's room because I didn't remember how I got back to my dorm. Maybe someone had carried me back. I slowly glanced across the room to Eric's side to see him sprawled across his bed in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. He was still out cold and didn't have to deal with the horrors of a terrible hangover just yet; the lucky bastard. I groaned as I struggled to turn my head the opposite way to where my alarm clock sat. Aside from my bed spread and bathroom necessities, my clock was about the only other thing that wasn't still packed away.

The room wasn't incredibly dark, but it was dark enough to contrast with the seemingly blinding light of the blinking clock screen that read 7:13AM. I moaned in exasperation. It was way too early to even think about getting up, not to mention that since classes didn't start for another two days, I didn't have anywhere to be. Maybe I could take a few aspirins and then fall back asleep for another two...three...seven hours. Yeah, that sounded reasonable.

I let out a grunt as I slowly sat up in my bed and slipped ungracefully down the side of it until my feet touched the cold, hard floor. Shuffling over to my desk, I blindly grabbed at the ziplock bag that lay on top of it, ripping it open and grasping the small pill bottle between my fingers. I swallowed two aspirins dry, grimacing at the sudden dryness of my throat. Not to mention, now that I was up, I could feel my bladder protesting as it fought not to burst open. That's what I get for drinking so much, I thought bitterly as I recapped the pill bottle and tossing it back on my desk.

As I got to the door, I paused to pull on the socks that I had most likely left on the floor the night before-the guys' bathroom was far too dangerous of a place to venture without protective footwear. After I closed the door behind me-as to not walk up Eric-I made my way quietly to the bathroom, wincing at each lunge my bladder gave with every step I took.

The hallways were eerily quiet, which was a bit odd considering that yesterday had been move-in day, but it was somewhat normal for that very same reason. A lot of students-especially those from out of the area-were probably exhausted from their long car rides and the excitement of their first day back on campus. I imagined most people had gone out to house parties last night and were now trying their best to sleep off their hangovers, much like myself. The only reason the guys and I hadn't been among them was because we knew for a fact that the cops played hardball the first weekend of the new semester, and while there were plenty of parties to choose from, most of them were quickly shut down. So while we might have spend our first night back drinking in the dorms, at least we weren't among the hundreds of others on campus who probably had a court date to look forward to. We honestly have ever-present party expert, Jonah to thank for that.

But still, it was a bit odd that the hallways were so silent (not to mention dark as well from the lack of windows); it made the floor seem like a ghost town, though maybe it was my hungover brain thinking way too hard. Like it had to overcompensate for all the stupidity it had to endure from me the night before. Deciding I was over-thinking way too much for a hungover college student, I stopped thinking all together and only focused on getting to the bathroom, which I reached just in time. I sighed in relief as I released the strain on my bladder in the urinal, absentmindedly, glancing at the mirror to my right. Boy, did I look like shit. My eyes were red and baggy, my hair was a complete mess, and I looked, well, I looked hungover. Jo would probably yell at me later for overdoing it on the drinking; she was never a big fan of my getting drunk to begin with.

I was drawn from my thoughts when a sudden noise resonated through the bathroom. It started as the sharp, wet echo that sounded like a foot, followed by the sound of something large falling to the floor. It was coming from the back of the bathroom, where the showers were held. Finished peeing, and feeling slightly jostled by the sudden disturbance, I zipped up my jeans-that I'd still been wearing from last night-and cautiously walked towards the showers. "Hello?" I called. "Someone there?"

There was no answer, and for some odd reason, that made it even more unnerving. I could actually feel my uncertainty morphing into fear, though of what, I had no idea. It was probably nothing. Yet I couldn't shake the nerves from my body. "H-hello?" I called again, as I walked closer. I was almost around the corner, to where the first shower stood, when a figure beat me to the punch and sprang out from behind the wall at me.

I screamed as I jumped back, not expecting there to actually be someone else in there with me. Jumping back caused me to lose my balance on the newly polished bathroom floor and I slipped backwards, cracking my head and back against the hard tile.

"Ah! Fuck!" I cursed, the blow stunning my already pounding head. I reached my arms up to cradle the back of my skull as I turned my body to the side and groaned on the floor.

"Be quiet, you idiot!" A hushed, angry voice sounded from above. "They'll hear you!" Beyond my blurred vision, I was able to focus on the figure that stood above me. It was a guy-no surprise there, considering we were in the boy's bathroom-and I had to assume he was a freshman, since I'd never seen him before. I focused more on his face, noting the angry, wild eyes and a bloody nose that he had attempted to stop with some rolled-up toilet paper. He was pale as a sheet of paper and his shirt was torn at the collar. Overall, I'd say that he looked even worse than me at the moment.

"Whoa buddy, relax," I said, detaching my hands from the back of my head in exchange for using them to help prop myself up from the floor. I smirked at his haggard appearance. "Rough night?"

"Shut up!" the guy snapped, still speaking in a hushed tone. "You don't understand!"

"Sure, sure," I said, waving him off as I sat up, groaning at the sharp pain to my lower back. I'd be feeling that for a week, no doubt. "Trust me, there's nothing on or off campus that I haven't done, or at least attempted." I paused, finally getting to my feet and brushing my jeans off. "'Sides, what the fuck are you doing in here anyway? If you gotta puke, the showers aren't-"

"Listen to me, god dammit!" The guy suddenly lunged at me, gripping the front of my shirt with his clenched fists. "You've got no fucking idea what's going on right now!" I glared down at him, all signs of joking erased from my face. This kid had to be on some sort of drug or something. His eyes were incredibly wide and bloodshot and he was practically twitching. "Look," I growled, gripping his wrist firmly as I began to pull at his grip on my shirt. "I don't know what kinda shit you're on, but you better..."

That's when I felt it. A wetness on his arm that was too thick to be just water. I slowly tore my eyes away from the kid's maddening stare to look down at my grip on his arm. What I saw almost made me gag. Smothered over what should have been pink skin was a crimson red liquid that was as thick as...

"...Blood." I brought my bewildered gaze back up to the boy, suddenly take in the fact that besides his arms, he was in fact covered in it. "Why...why are you covered in blood?" His arms, the front of his shirt, his pants; splotches of red stained both skin and fabric. There was no way all this blood had come from his nose.

Suddenly I felt sick. With power I didn't even know I had, I tore away from the kid's grip and backtracked quickly towards the bathroom door, a look of shock and disgust on my face. "What are you doing?!" The guy suddenly hissed as I blindly reached for the doorknob, my wide eyes glued on him in case he tried to attack. I had to find someone. The RA, a neighbor, the fucking cleaning lady, _anybody!_ I gripped the knob and began to turn.

"Stop!" I pulled at the door just the kid rushed me, hands reached outward to keep me from escaping the bathroom. The door open, I finally chanced ripping my eyes from him, if only for a moment to make a quick break for my room. I barely even lifted a foot before I was blocked by a body standing in the doorway.

I must have been hallucinating, maybe even dreaming as I stood face-to-face with a creature so grotesque and disfigured, it barely resembled that of a human being. Gray, sallow skin. Mangled, knotted, bloodied hair. Yellow, decaying teeth accompanied by the stench of rotten meat and carrion. Wide, blank eyes with an eerie, clouded surface that seemed to look at nothing but at the same time were fixated on me. Blood spattered across every inch of its body, and pieces of its skin seemed to be missing; ripped off ravenously, leaving behind small strings of mangled flesh than hung limply from gaping wounds. I was frozen, the stench of death paralyzing my senses, the sensation of pure, unadulterated terror paralyzing my body. The creature-a creature that could have, at one time resembled a human-let out a shaky hiss that ended as a moan, and its jaw parted a bit more to reveal more disgusting, decayed teeth and a breath that nearly knocked me out.

A movement out of the corner of my eye shocked me out of my frozen state and I jumped back with a started cry as a gray, deathly arm reached out towards me, overgrown nails grasping the air where my head had just been.

"Ah! What the fuck!?" I cried and the noise seemed to excite the creature more. It moaned lowly, and on shaky feet, it began stumbling into the bathroom. Oh god! Oh god, what do I do!? What _could _I do?

I was panicking and the more I panicked, the faster the creature seemed to get. One step, two step, three. It was fixated on me, as if I were the only thing in the world that mattered. That all it wanted to do was grab hold of me with his disgusting talons and rip me to shreds with his gnarling teeth.

Then, there was a loud slam, and suddenly it was gone. The kid was standing in front of the closed bathroom door, his legs splayed out and his hands forcing the door closed. "W-what?" I could barely speak.

"The fuck are you doing!?" the kid yelled, no longer even attempting to keep quiet. "Help me!" I blinked and shook my head, stumbling towards him to help him prop the door shut. "No!" he snapped. "Get my bat! It's in one of the showers! Hurry!" I hesitated for a moment but the door suddenly began to bang against its hinges, whatever was out there struggling to get in. My mind a blur, I spun around and ran to the back of the bathroom where the showers were.

It didn't take long to realize which stall the bat was in, and at the sight of it, I keeled over and emptied my already empty stomach into the floor. The curtain drawn back, the entire stall and surrounding walls was covered in fresh, red blood. Hand prints decorated the walls, skit marks were smeared along the floor. Inside the stall itself lay the remains of what I could only assume was the body of a person. It was so mangled and in disarray that it looked like a dead animal on the side of the road. But among the blood and spilled guts, there was hair. Human hair. And clothes. I vomited up bile again, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand when I was through.

The bat lay on its side beside the body and despite the fact that I wanted no part in getting any closer to that crime scene of a shower stall, I made my way over on hands and knees and managed to grab the bat without another sick spell. The bat was metal and as bloodied as the floor and walls. I didn't take another moment to examine it-afraid that I would spot leftover guts on it if I did-and quickly got to my feet and fumbled towards the door again.

The banging had not stopped and despite looking weak at first glance, the kid was holding his own against whatever was trying to claw its way inside. "I've got the bat!" I cried, thrusting it at him. He didn't take it though, still concentrating hard on keeping the door shut. "Take it!"

He ignored me, instead saying, "When I count to three, I'm gonna open the door!""

"Wait, what?" I cried.

"When I do, aim for the head, and don't you fucking let up!"

"Wait, what the fuck are you-"

"1!"

"I said wait, god dammit it! I can't do-"

"2!"

"What the fuck am I supposed to-"  
"3!"

He grabbed the knob and yanked it open. The creature was still there, nearly falling on its face from the force that the door was yanked. It zeroed in on me and lifted its hands up towards me, eagerly entering the bathroom and gunning for me. I backed up, the bat gripped so tightly in my hands that my knuckles were turning white.

"The fuck are you doing?!" The guy screamed. "Swing!"

The creature came closer, practically running. I was out of options, terror locking up my knees so that I couldn't back up anymore. "Fuck!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, and against every instinct telling me to drop the bat and run for dear life, I squeezed my eyes shut, cocked the bat behind my head and swung with all my might.

A sickening crack was the next thing I heard, followed by a _splat! _and the sound of metal hitting a wall. I peeked one eye open, almost afraid of what I might see. Light filled my vision, and for a moment, I thought I was dead, but then my nose was bombarded with the stink of rotting flesh and meat and I knew that I was still alive in that bathroom.

My body trembling, I managed to scan the room. The kid was on the other side, beside the door, where he was peeking his head out of the bathroom, glancing around cautiously. To my left, was the wall, now decorated in a spray of blood, guts and bones, the tip of bat dug deep in the mutilated corpse of the creature that had come so close to nearly killing me. It's skull was smashed in and nearly plastered to the wall by the bat, the rest of its body dangling limply beneath it. Relief flooded through me and my body went numb as I dropped the bat and sank to the floor on my hands and knees.

"Oh...oh god," I gasped quietly, staring widely at the small droplets of blood on the once-clean tiled floor. "What...what the hell was that?"

"One of the dead. A walking corpse." I glanced up from the floor to stare at the kid in astonishment. "You...you're kidding me, right?" I asked.

"You tell me," the kid growled, finally pulling his head back into the bathroom and quietly shutting the door. "You saw it for yourself."

"But that...that couldn't have been...I mean, those kind of things only happen in movies...it's not...it can't be real..."

"Believe it, don't believe it, I don't really care," the kid replied, walking over to me and stopping to pick up the bat from the floor.

"But...Jesus..." I murmured, more to myself than anything. "What the hell happened? Everything was...fine last night."

"I don't know," the guy responded, settling down on the floor beside me, and leaning his head against the wall. "All I know is one second I'm in my bed, and the next, I'm smashing my roommate's head in with his own baseball bat." I turned and stared at me.

"You...you're roommate?" I asked, my eyes wide. "So that...guy in the showers..."

"No, I killed my roommate in our dorm," the kid answered, glancing down at the bloody bat in his hands. "I don't know who that guy was."

"This...is fucking crazy," I mumbled under my breath, sighing into my hands.

"You're telling me." The kid let out a low sigh and glanced up. "I'm, um, I'm Danny, by the way. Freshman bio major." He offered me a small, awkward half-smile and a handshake. I grimaced at the blood but shook it anyway.

"Dean Archer. Sophomore. Phys. Ed." I replied.

"Gym teacher, huh?" I shrugged.

"Yeah, well there's not a whole lot I'm good at." I murmured. Danny smirked. "Well, if it counts for anything, you're got a helluva mean swing." He motioned his head towards the bloodied mess on the wall. I tried not to turn green.

"Well, I'm gonna try not to make a habit of that from now on." I commented, managing to keep down the vomit. Danny frowned.

"I'm not sure how well that's going to work out." I furrowed my eyebrows at him, almost afraid to respond.

"Why not?"

"Well, if this is anything like the movies, then it's gonna be a whole lot worse outside."

~Chapter 1 End~


End file.
